Author: mary

Covenant Marriage is God’s Design and we have prepared to discuss this in Parts I and II of Marriage: God’s Design for Male-Female Relationships.

As a follower of Christ and knowing that God is the Author of marriage as written in the book of Genesis, I define every marriage as a Covenant Marriage, whether it is a marriage of two Christ-followers or not. Marriage is by God’s design and it is His will that in earthly marriage the husband represents His love to his wife, who represents God’s Bride, The Church.
In Genesis chapter 2, verse 18, it states, “And the Lord God said, “’It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him’.” This man God created underwent the first surgical procedure on Earth, and a rib was removed from him to create the first woman, who was later presented to the man. I like to point out here, that the origin of the woman was the man. God did not scoop up new clay to form her, he formed her from the same clay that formed the man. She was created as an extension of him. Theologians have observed God choosing to use Adam’s rib to form the woman symbolized equality. She was made to be his equal. And the rib cage is protective and supportive, symbolizing that the woman should be cherished and valued in her God-ordained role.

In the book, The Divine Economy, by Witness Lee, he writes that the meaning of God placing Adam in a “deep sleep,” signified death.  Then when he opened up Adam’s side and took one of his ribs to build it into a wife for Adam, she signified resurrection – life coming from someone (Adam) who was considered as dead.  He goes on to say that the wife, Eve, was not created but built from resurrection which parallels The Church, resulting from the resurrection of Christ.  The Church was not created by God but it was resurrected out of Christ. 

This description of the relationship between Adam and Eve and God and His Bride is profound.  The woman can also be interpreted to be the man’s redeemer as well, as God did say, in Genesis 2:18, it is not good for man to be alone.

I was excited to see that parallel from Witness Lee, as it fortifies that our earthly marriage relationships are meant to be the manifestation of Christ’s relationship with His Bride, The Church.

The oneness aspect of the marriage mentioned in Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:31-32 is also evident in the creation account, since Eve was the continuation of Adam and not formed out of new clay. 

As we continue our look at Covenant Marriage, in a Christian ceremony, you are making an agreement, a promise, a covenant with your spouse and with God. The symbol of the triangle is commonly used to describe the marriage relationship.  God is at the top, with the husband and wife across from each other below.  As spouses commit to God and to each other, the lines direct them closer to God and to each other, creating more and more unity.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 states that “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”  When God is the common focus of your union, you should have all you need to succeed. 

A Covenant Marriage includes God and He does not forsake His covenants, as stated in Deuteronomy 7:9. If you believe He brought the two of you together, He can be trusted for any necessary wisdom to keep you in unity with Him and with one another.   

However, and this is a huge HOWEVER, you must have pre-marital counseling to lay the best possible foundation for your marriage relationship.  Everyone comes into a relationship with past experiences.  First time couples only have childhood, parenting and educational experiences to consider. Some may have prior relationships or engagements that didn’t work out. Second or third marriages, not only have that, but past marriage experiences, including not happy or healthy ones. 

If the couple agrees that they want the best possible chances of success in their marriage relationship, why would they skip this chance to learn and grow together?  Meeting with their pastor, a Christian counselor or a mentoring couple who has experience with pre-marital marriage mentoring is statistically proven to increase marital satisfaction by 30% and reduce the possibility of divorce.

Before our marriage in 2001, my husband and I participated in not one, but two of these six-week sessions, one with a Christian counselor and the other with a mentoring couple. He had two previous marriages, one ending in death and the other, a very brief marriage of 8 months, ended in divorce. And I had one previous marriage ending in divorce.  So, we both were looking for a better outcome this time. But as I emphasized earlier, I believe every couple can benefit from pre-marital counseling. One benefit might even be to learn that you actually aren’t right for each other.  Things you care deeply about, your spouse-to-be may not care about at all. That could be a deal-breaker.  And although this could be heartbreaking for one or both parties, it’s much better to find out in counseling than after the wedding.

Our pre-marital counseling experiences were extremely valuable and rewarding.  During these meetings we were asked to share our expectations of marriage. Most matched up but some didn’t. The ones that didn’t match gave us a critical opportunity to discuss things further and resolve conflict if necessary.  We were challenged to discuss our priorities regarding roles and responsibilities, lifestyle choices, faith practices, life goals, in-laws, finances and sexuality.  Child-rearing couples would also discuss parenting expectations and related decision making.

Three states in America currently offer the option to have a legal Covenant Marriage.  They are Arizona, Arkansas and Louisiana. The process requires premarital counseling and imposes stricter conditions for divorce compared to a standard marriage.  Christ-following couples whether in these states or not should always honor their commitment to God and know that Biblical divorce is only allowed in cases of adultery and abandonment.  The common “irreconcilable differences” is a not a Biblical reason to divorce and you would be outside of God’s will in claiming such a reason.  Author and pastor Myles Munroe said that, “Two sinners will always be irreconcilable along the way.”  But remember, when you have God Almighty involved in your Covenant Marriage, you will always have all you need to succeed.

The most important thing to remember while trusting God to keep His Covenant, is that you must keep yours, to Him and to each other.  The best way to do that is to agree together to make church attendance a priority along with regular prayer and bible study.  This will keep each of you growing increasing closer to each other, as you are growing closer to God. 

In Part I, I described the foundations of marriage in both the Catholic and Protestant traditions, my own marriage journey and ended with the foundation of a Christian marriage.   Now we’ll look at what might hinder your relational happiness and how these issues can be minimized or altogether eliminated. 

Let’s start with a word picture.  Imagine a vase full of water.  The vase is a human soul, let’s say your soul, and the water represents all the bumps and bruises of the world that have affected your soul – which is your mind, your will and your emotions.  As a Christ-follower, now you want to take action to prepare for a healthy relationship, for example, and you begin to read and apply God’s Word to your mind, will and emotions (your soul).  This is like taking a stone and putting it in the vase full of water, again the water representing all the pain, wounds and emotions from your past.

After adding several stones, the truth of God’s Word to the vase of water, what would happen to the water?  It would spill out and be replaced with the Truth of God’s Word!  That is how anyone can redirect their life in a positive way, and it is especially helpful as you hope to have a long- lasting marriage relationship.

God’s Word is primary in Christian pre-marital counseling. If you are a Christian, and God’s Word is not being used in the counseling, find one that is!  The reason pre-marital counseling is so vitally important is that, as I said in Part I, we were all born into Satan’s kingdom. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us, ‘Satan comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but that He comes to give us life, and life more abundantly.”  That verse contains all the wisdom for successful living!  To me it means unless we want Satan to rob us of our lives, the lives God (Jesus) gave us to live abundantly, we need to align ourselves with God and the practical way He has given us to do that is by reading His Word, the Bible, and knowing that He left us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who is sealed with our human spirit at the time we sincerely make Jesus our Savior and Lord.  Jesus’ exact words about Holy Spirit in John 14:26 went like this: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.“ Our lives can never be truly successful without God and can be immeasurably better – even abundant – as we learn His Truth from His Spirit

Now, let’s look at real benefits of completing pre-marital counseling. Here’s what I experienced. When my husband and I did this, we were able to express all our expectations for our relationship.  Most couples spend a lot of time and money on preparations for the wedding day, reception, honeymoon, etc. and comparatively little time on preparing for the day-to-day relationship.  Hence, the 50% divorce rate. How can we reduce that? But, let’s continue. 

In the dating relationship, we typically all put our best foot forward, don’t we?  We’re having fun and enjoy being together, we want to see where it goes and don’t want to rock the boat. However, as Neil Clark Warren says in his book, Finding the Love of Your Life, no one should make a decision to get married until they have dated at least two years.  Hmm…  Two years? Yes.  Ironically, while my husband and I were teaching this class, we hit our two-year dating mark and had the biggest argument we ever had!  The reason?  I don’t remember what the disagreement was about, but the reason behind it was we had dated long enough to feel comfortable enough to say the thing we hesitated to say earlier, or ask the question we wouldn’t dare ask sooner.  Letting any other foot go forward can lead to relationship explosions, and if we would’ve been married already when this happened, we could’ve separated over it.

Therefore, I have a testimony that Neil is on to something and we should take him seriously. 

Now at the two-year dating mark, a decision to go forward should be made with the benefit of pre-marital counseling. This can be done with either a pastor, a Christian counselor or married mentoring couple. In the sessions, you will be encouraged to discuss every topic regarding the marriage relationship, including: the spiritual foundation of the relationship, communication, conflict resolution, finances, roles and responsibilities, intimacy and sexuality, family and children.  I’d like to point out here, the all-important topic of conflict resolution.  If you haven’t been successful prior to this in resolving conflicts, these 6 weeks will give you plenty of practice, and I believe it will be well worth the effort and time you take to work through any conflicts during this time.  It will pay great dividends throughout the marriage.

Remember a few paragraphs back I mentioned the bumps and bruises we get living in Satan’s kingdom?  Here is where they should all be revealed, making an interesting time with your pastor, counselor or mentoring couple. Oh goodie. The time your parent (or a teacher) said something about you that you can’t forget, or forgive. A previous relationship that ended due to unfaithfulness, maybe your unfaithfulness. That addiction you struggle with to pornography or gambling.  It all needs to come out, no stone left unturned.  Stones. Where did I mention stones before?  I’m going to tie it up here. God’s Word is healing to your soul. Remember the parts – your mind, your will and your emotions. The experiences of life, both good and bad, land in our mind and affect our emotions and our will or our attitude about it and the future. Psalm 23: 2-3 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.” And Psalm 147:2 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” We all need some healing from the world and it’s so important to discuss it with a trusted third party in order to lay a worthy foundation for a Covenant with God. 

 

Before I delve into this massive subject, let’s lay a foundation and define what marriage is meant to be.

As I have previously mentioned, I was raised Catholic, and in the Catholic tradition, marriage is called Holy Matrimony, and it is considered one of the seven sacraments.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the sacraments, they are rites believed to be a means of divine grace or a sign or symbol and a spiritual reality. For Catholics, marriage is understood as a sacred bond instituted by God.  It is a lifelong, exclusive partnership between one man and one woman and meant to guard them from sexual immorality.  It is for the procreation and education of children.  

This union is considered a covenant and is meant to be a manifestation of the love that Christ has for His Bride, The Church.  It is also intended as a source of joy, strength and holiness for the couple and their community. 

In the Protestant tradition, marriage is considered a sacred institution initiated by God as demonstrated by the creation of Adam and Eve.  

They believe it is similar in all points to the Catholics, with the exception of it being a sacrament. Rather the Protestant tradition emphasizes that it is a covenant, a solemn promise made to God and before God.  

Several covenants appear throughout the Bible that God made with both individuals and groups, therefore by using those as examples, we see that God is willing to help His people and provide for His people as they trust Him.  

This can be an encouragement for couples as they pledge their forever love to each

other, joining hands before an all-powerful God.

While I prepared for my first marriage – which was in the Catholic church – I was just 19 years old and full of trepidation. My husband’s dad and my step-dad both struggled with alcohol addiction at the time, and we agreed to get married as a way to distance ourselves from them.  

This was reason number one, NOT to get married. But wait!  There are more.  

My boyfriend was handsome with thick dark curly hair.  He also had a job, which meant he had money to take me places.  Plus, we would ride to all those places in his cool car.  What more could a girl ask for?  I later learned a critical issue that would follow us to our new home, the over consumption of alcohol. After over fifteen years together, he left me and our two children. As he packed his clothes, he drank four beers within 20 minutes.

Three months later the divorce was final. Even though I believed God could put my family back together, He had a different future in mind for me.

Eight years later God called me to start a Divorce Recovery Ministry at my church, and I was privileged to do so and as I did, I learned much more about marriage and male-female relationships.  

Primarily, that your desire for marriage should be to honor God with your relationship.  

It should not be to remove you from an uncomfortable situation, or to ride in a cool car or anything physical. While I was single, an older and wiser Christian woman told me,

“Don’t marry anyone until you can do more for Jesus together than you can do by yourself.”

And as God would have it, I did just that in 2001. Twelve years of ministry to the separated, divorced and single parents was a very special time in my life, because not only did God give me the spiritual gifts of Faith and Administration for that ministry, He allowed me to learn so much in the process and provide an avenue to hundreds of hurting people who were seeking hope and healing.  

We offered DivorceCare, which was a 13-week video series featuring experts on various topics related to issues surrounding separation and divorce.  Then each week we would go into small groups to discuss the video and how the information could help them.

After a few sessions, participants were excited about what they were learning and started asking what else they needed to learn to have a healthy and long-lasting new relationship. 

 So we started offering additional classes on dating and new relationships. 

One of these courses we called, Oneness and we based it on the book by Myles Munroe, Single, Married Separated and Life After Divorce.  

 

This teaching encouraged individuals to find their identity in Christ first, and to be separate, unique and whole in Him.  That is when you are truly ready for a healthy, Christ- honoring relationship.

Leading this ministry focused on relationships and having a passion to serve God, including teaching others what marriage was meant to be, is what motivates me to write about this topic.   

In my experience, many who believe they are Christians – Christ followers – are really not.  

Again, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, there are varying definitions of Christian.  A true follower of Christ is someone who actually knows where He (Jesus) is and where He is leading them. 

This is someone who reads their Bible regularly and allows the indwelling Holy Spirit to be their Teacher and Counselor.  

When you meet those qualifications, THEN you are a Christ-follower. 

It’s impossible to follow someone if you don’t know where they want you to go.  The Bible gives you the road map. 

You can attend church regularly, but if you never open your own Bible during the week, all you take in is the World, the Flesh and the Devil, because that’s where we live, in Satan’s kingdom.

Before my current husband and I married, we participated in not just one, but two pre-marital counseling studies.  One we did with a Christian counselor at our church an another we did with a mentoring couple at another church.  I cannot emphasize strongly enough, that pre-marital counseling is a MUST.  Whether for a first marriage or any marriage beyond that – especially for any marriage other than the first.  Because life in the world is compounding.    

As life happens, remembering we all start out in Satan’s kingdom, there are many opportunities for bumps and bruises along the way.  Maybe your childhood and your dreams were shattered by your own parent’s breakup, problems with alcohol or drugs, any form of abuse, abandonment or difficulty with teachers or peers in school.  All this and more affect our perspective on our future, with marriage and family relationships being critical to lifelong happiness.

I will discuss why and how to lay a great foundation for marriage in Part II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdBg-9iRYYI

In Part I of The Greatest Gift, I hoped to emphasize the importance of knowing about Holy Spirit In order to practice the authentic Christian life.  If Jesus made it a point to tell his disciples that He had to go away so that the Helper would come, (John 16:7), it is good for the followers of Jesus to learn about the function of this significant Helper. 

In Chapter 3 of Second Letter of Paul to the Church in Corinth, Paul points out the differences of living under the Law or living under Grace.  Having the knowledge of these two dispensations can clarify understanding and application of all of God’s Word for believers. The dispensation of the Law is in the Old Testament and obedience to the 10 Commandments were the guidelines for the Old Testament. But all these laws were and are impossible for humans to keep!  When Jesus came, with His dispensation of Grace – He shed his blood to cover our sin debt and Grace is the New Testament dispensation, where we live today.  Paul states this in verses 7-8:

“But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?” Emphasis mine.

The appearance of the Holy Spirit in scripture comes in the book of Acts, Chapter 2.  Jesus tells His apostles to go to Jerusalem and wait. (Acts 1:4) This is significant to me.  Jesus asked the apostles to wait. I think it may have been to indicate to future believers, that there is a seasoning that can be beneficial to the believer, a time of anticipation or growth, that prepares us to go deeper with Jesus and grasp the experience with Holy Spirit more completely.  Receiving and understanding Holy Spirit is not like milk for babies but more like meat for the mature in Christ. However, some are saved and filled with the Spirit on the same day, receiving their prayer language right away.  The sanctification process, which includes conforming our soul – mind, will and emotions -to the will of God, takes a lifetime!

I have learned that praying in an unknown tongue is nothing to be afraid of, but rather something to be embraced. Some denominations and Christian leaders shy away from this and negate this very special and unique gift from God. Jesus loves us and all that He did for us and gave to us is for our good and to bring us into a closer relationship with Him.

Praying in the Spirit allows you to pray when you don’t know how or what to pray for.  It is also a way we communicate to our Heavenly Father, who is Spirit, and when we pray in the Spirit, we edify ourselves. Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:4, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.” When we edify ourselves, we build up our spirit man and fortify our human spirit with the wisdom of God.  Some have taught that edification can bring healing and that can be true, especially in the case of the healing of your soul – your mind, will or emotions.  As I mentioned  in an earlier blog, the soul is the storehouse of all that has ever happened to you and all you’ve ever done. Any negative experiences, trauma and sinful memories can have a lasting affect on our lives, our mental state and our life choices. I believe using the gift of tongues can be a great benefit in calming our minds and casting all our cares upon the Lord, as we are taught in 1 Peter 5:7. The working of Holy Spirit in our lives is supercharged as we use this gift. He is growing us up in Him, making us less like the world and more like Jesus.

Apostle Paul, after describing the Armor of God states in Ephesians 6, he states in verse 18, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” This implies that praying in the Spirit is the “icing” of the Armor, so as we imagine dressing ourselves with the belt of Truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the footgear of the gospel of peace, picking up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, we can also internally armor ourselves and our souls with our prayer language.

In many Christian churches you will hear an invitation to receive Jesus as your personal Savior, along with a second invitation to received His Spirit or to be filled with the Spirit.  Whenever you hear an invitation to be filled with Holy Spirit, it’s very important to know this – the fullness of the Spirit of God is sealed with your spirit when you sincerely receive Jesus as your Savior, as Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 1:13. But, the “filling” of His Spirit happens when He receives more of you!  You are filling yourself up with Him, allowing Holy Spirit to completely guide your life.  Being a born-again Christian, filled with the Spirit of God gives you a Spirit-controlled life. 

Beverly LaHaye, author of The Spirit-Controlled Woman, says that Holy Spirit is the Helper when it comes to your personal relationships too. “A Spirit-controlled temperament can transform family, social, and professional relationship.  It will help you attain goals more effectively, improve your communication skills, banish anger and combat depression and increase your compassion for others.  The Spirit-controlled life is the ultimate behavior modifier.”

When I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, my husband and I had just completed a radio interview about our ministry and two pastors were a part of the program. After the show, they discussed that someone in our city had been raised from the dead! I wondered why that wasn’t front-page news. These two pastors told us that they believed purposely being refilled with Holy Spirit is what gave this minister who was involved with this resurrection the spiritual power he needed for God to intervene in this man’s life, or death as it were. They continued to say that we who are in ministry should continually be filled with Holy Spirit because as we minister, we are giving out of the Spirit. This reminds me of the Living Water Jesus spoke of in John 4 with the woman at the well. He told her if she drank of the water He would give her, she would never thirst again. So Holy Spirit is continually available and continually flowing as we welcome Him into our lives.
Holy Spirit is the original GPS – God’s Positioning System. God designed us to be His habitation. Witness Lee, author of The Economy of God, says that God is like a businessman and he wants to dispense His “product” into us, which is His Spirit. When we learn the importance of this and embrace Holy Spirit to do what He wants to do in our lives, we will truly be participating in the fullness of Christianity as the Bible teaches.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” 

Colossians 3:12

 

During my working career, I spent three years as Placement Director for a technical school.  One of my duties was to prepare students for graduation and job interviews.  There were guidelines I used to encourage them to dress for success so they would appear like a serious candidate for the position. As I interact with the employees at most companies today – even at banks which are to be the most trustworthy of organizations – I see employees dressed as if they forgot it was a work day!  It’s obvious that many people don’t seem to be aware of the connection between what they wear and how it can affect their attitude and opportunities – and the perceptions of others. But it is absolutely a factor in how you face the day and how others perceive you.

If we apply this worldly truth to our Christian walk, scripture clearly teaches followers of Jesus Christ that they are to represent Him.  In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Apostle Paul says, “We are ambassadors for Christ.”  Imagine for a moment that Jesus actually called you on your phone today and said, “Hey there loved one, I’d like you to represent me in the marketplace today.”  If your heart has been changed by Christ, would you grab your ripped jeans and stretched out t-shirt and rush out the door?  Or would you thoughtfully put together an outfit that communicates that you have a critically important message to deliver? Because, every follower of Jesus does!

My Savior is Jesus Christ and He has asked me in the scriptures to represent Him every day.  It is my heart’s desire to do it effectively and with excellence. If He would actually call and ask me that, I would challenge myself to look and to do my absolute best for Him. Why wouldn’t we?  He has given us everything. All that we are and all that we have are blessings from Him. James 1:17 states, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

That should be our daily practice, but how about when we go to church?  How should Christians best represent their Savior and their righteous position in Him at church?  The old saying, “Wear your Sunday best,” should never go out of style.  The Church of Jesus Christ – all believers – are His Body.  If we consider how the scriptures describe us in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us we are all parts of one body: a foot, a hand, an eye, an ear.  All parts are valuable to the whole body.  Each part has its own function.  As we represent Him on Sunday mornings, shouldn’t we be the best dressed group of people anywhere?  I’m not saying we need to be the most expensively dressed group, because there are ways around that – one being thrift stores. But everyone has a mirror at home to look at themselves before they leave to see if they look worthy of Who they represent, which includes being clean, neat and confident.

Modesty is another topic we must address. Modesty is the quality of being humble and decent in behavior and dress.  Our culture today has objectified women and girls with immodest trends and they don’t seem to realize it. When women and girls don’t wear enough clothing to worship to cover themselves modestly, they can become an object of “worship.”  Extremely short skirts and revealing tops are distracting not only for the males at church, but can also be uncomfortable for other females who are keeping good boundaries by being modest.  

One of the biggest reasons we need to discuss this is because all men are susceptible to lust as they are visually stimulated. Young girls should be taught this.  They should not be allowed to just go with the flow of what everyone else is wearing. Christian fathers should make sure their daughters are aware and take a pro-active role in protecting them from unnecessary male attention. I was blessed with a dad who cared for me this way.  When parents teach biblcal values to their children, modesty will come as a by-product.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “Women should adorn themselves modestly.”  Every daughter of God should be aware of her righteous standing in Christ and dress accordingly.

In Dressing for Faith: What the Bible Teaches about Clothing, writer Adam Phillips gives these three points – Covering, Temptation and Humility.  Why cover? If you have a special item, say a classic car, wouldn’t you cover it?  Most people would keep it in the garage or under a protective cover to shield it from the sun or other damage.  Our bodies are the most important possession we have!  We should absolutely cherish and protect them.

Temptation, as I noted earlier, is when a woman’s appearance can attract men and tempt them to have thoughts they would otherwise not have.  This is all too common.  We must do better at helping women and teen girls understand their power.  Author Dannah Gresh pinpoints this power in her book, Secret Keeper – The Delicate Power of Modesty.  She explains that your modesty not only issues a challenge for one man to romantically earn your virtue, but it also expresses your love for and obedience to God. 

Here are a few practical suggestions for Godly women and girls.  If you choose to wear skin-tight pants, stretch jeans or stretch pants, pair them with a long top or tunic that completely covers your hips.  Never wear any top to church that exposes cleavage.  Nix the tattered jeans. Remember that Jesus redeemed you and you are representing Him!  God’s house is no place for women and girls to be wearing torn, skimpy or revealing clothes.  

And lastly, humility, as mentioned earlier, is defined as the quality of being humble and characterized by modesty and a lack of pride or arrogance.  Dressing in a way to call attention to yourself is prideful.

Let’s do our best to represent our Savior well, especially when we go to our house of worship.  Might it be that God would grant us more success as His Bride if we were to dress the part? Brides always want to look beautiful, and they should.

 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. Matthew 5:16

The Miriam Webster Dictionary defines yoga as follows: A Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation.  That should clarify it. Christianity is incompatible with Hinduism.  However, there are some who still need to be convinced.  Such as those working at and subscribing to the publication entitled, “Christian Yoga Magazine.” Christians and the practice of yoga are absolutely incompatible – if you do your research.  I hope this blog will help. 

Let’s take a closer look at that definition again, it says that a goal of yoga is to separate the self from the body, mind and will.  In Christianity, Jesus calls us to die to our self, which means we reject the life of the flesh and live for Him, practicing His way of life.  Why would a Christian go to a yoga class to separate their “self” if they have already died to it, and have given their life to Jesus?

The more troubling statement in that definition is to, “attain liberation.”  So, for a practicing Christian to practice yoga to liberate the self again, the self is hidden in Christ for the one who is truly following Him.  Our entire being is liberated at the time we exchange our fallen flesh to the only One Who can redeem it!

Once upon a time, I practiced yoga and I also taught it.  It was before my encounter with the Living God, when I was a Christian only in head knowledge.  Now I understand more about the indwelling Holy Spirit in every Christian and how contrary it would be to worship a Hindu God with my body in those postures.  It may sound crazy in the physical, but in the supernatural realm, the forces of good and evil are fighting for control of your soul. I see no reason to take a chance of giving an evil spirit any control over me.  I am being sanctified and set apart to become holy as my Savior is holy.  (1 Peter 1:16)

A few blogs ago I mentioned there are different levels of spiritual development – some people visit church every Sunday, and they say they are Christians.  Some have had a life-altering encounter with the living God, and they call themselves Christians.  And there are various levels of experience in between: Head knowledge versus heart knowledge, Bible instruction at home, Bible reading, Bible college or seminary, etc. Good examples of Christian living and poor ones. We are in a classroom every day.  Some things we should capture and add to our lives and some things we need to reject.  If you truly follow Jesus, practicing yoga should absolutely be rejected.   

Someone who has a very powerful testimony regarding this topic is Mike Shreve, a former Kundalini Yoga instructor who taught at four universities in Florida in the 1960s.  Kundalini energy is often visualized as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine, guided upward through the chakras to the crown chakra.  A serpent.  Where has a serpent been featured in a story before?  I think we are all familiar with the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve.  If God allowed a serpent to be a symbol of evil in the Bible, why would a Christian want to visualize a serpent crawling up their spine to the crown of their head? 

Several hundred students attended classes led by Mike Shreve.  He led many of them in demanding physical and spiritual disciplines – from 3:30 in the morning until 8:30 at night.  He incorporated Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga and Mantra Yoga – meditation and mantra techniques aimed at experiencing higher supernatural realms.  Every aspect of his life was fine-tuned for the attaining of that elusive goal of, “God-consciousness.”

He describes how he left the world of yoga when he came to faith in Christ in his book, Seven Reasons I No Longer Practice Yoga.  In it he states, “I had an unexpected encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, that radically transformed my heart, my life and my worldview.”  Since then, he has not practiced any kind of yoga, not even the most basic aspects.  

For over five decades he has often been asked if it is acceptable for Christians to practice yoga.  His answer is an emphatic, “No.”  He advises all Christians to become more knowledgeable and discerning concerning this cultural trend. I encourage anyone interesting in learning more about Mike’s journey to visit his website at thetruelight.net.

Another testimony just happened to pop up on my Facebook feed last week. It was from Joshua Shaw. He and his wife, Chelsea, are Senior Pastors of an apostolic equipping center. They witnessed demon possession of a girl with back pain. Joshua prayed for her and the pain came back, then it moved from her low back to the middle of her back and then to her shoulder.  Heasked the Lord what was happening and heard, “yoga.”  Then he asked her if she had practiced yoga and she said that the pain started the day she started a yoga class.  He told her to renounce yoga and prayed for her again and her pain was instantly healed.  

While doing healing and deliverance, Joshua has seen many cases of individuals receiving a demonic spirit from practicing yoga. To learn more about them and their deliverance ministry, visit their website, WalkAfterChrist.com

Finally, author and filmmaker, Caryl Matrisciana, who was born and raised in India, produced an excellent documentary in 2008 entitled, Yoga Uncoiled, which can be found on YouTube. In 2012, she appeared on the Christian television program, Christ in Prophecy, and explained how yoga opens doors to the occult and much more, and how influential the Beatles were to bring Hindu influences mainstream. Clips from Yoga Uncoiled, are included in this interview. https://youtu.be/qa6MQEj0aLc?si=VyeyyZMhOmZpLYdR

Participants in yoga who consider themselves Christians should renounce everything that they have said and done related to yoga.  I pray for every Christian who thinks attending a yoga class is harmless.  If you love Jesus and claim Him as your Savior, practicing yoga is sinful.  

Have you ever heard at Christmas time, “Jesus is the Greatest Gift?”  It seems to be a popular theme.  During my study of Holy Spirit I have come to what I feel is a more complete understanding.  I now believe that the greatest gift from God isn’t Jesus Himself, it is His Spirit. 

First of all, Holy Spirit is the only God on the earth today.  He was left here by Jesus to be our Helper, as He stated in John 14:26: “I have told you all these things while I am with you.  But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you.  This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.” 

Secondly, The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity, the Triune God. He is in fact, a divine person, just as the Father and Son are divine persons, each with a particular role. The Christian can and should relate with each person in the Trinity.  The indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer allows for that because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all present together when the Spirit comes to dwell in you.  They have never been out of fellowship, except for the time when Jesus hung on the cross and took on our sins.

And thirdly, God’s limitless wisdom and truth are available to anyone who receives Jesus as their Savior, as Holy Spirit is a Teacher and Counselor.   This amazing gift can come to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world!  The fact that God can multiply His Spirit and indwell every believer at the time of salvation across the globe is something far greater than the God-Man could accomplish while He was earth-bound.  This is why Jesus said in John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth.  It is advantageous for you that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.”  And he goes on to list all the benefits that His Spirit will be equipped to provide to us, in verses 8-11.  In verse 13, Jesus tells His disciples, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.”  That makes perfect sense, and gives us another reason to believe that Holy Spirit is the Greatest Gift.   

The fact that God can multiply His Spirit and indwell every believer at the time of salvation across the globe is something far greater than the God-Man could accomplish while He was earth-bound.

When I was first prompted to study more about Holy Spirit, I was led to a few books that have benefitted me greatly – as if studying the Greatest Gift would result in anything less than great.  The first of the books was Smith Wigglesworth’s Holy Spirit, another was The Sermons of John G. Lake.  Both I highly recommend.  One additional book was very impactful and I’ve now read it three times, which included leading a book study group two of the three times.  It is, The God I Never Knew, by Robert Morris.  

The subtitle of Morris’ book, How Real Friendship with the Holy Spirit Can Change Your Life, has become a passion of mine.  My hope is for every Christian who has either never heard a teaching on Holy Spirit or have been warned to avoid the Holy Spirit to fully appreciate God’s amazing gift.  Some Christian leaders have been wrongly taught that Holy Spirit is “spooky” or “weird.” Some of that may come from what some have called, “the evidence of the Holy Spirit,” which is speaking or praying in unknown tongues.  It is an important part of the gift that Jesus gave us, and I will elaborate on the Gift of Tongues in Part II. 

If we as Christians choose to overlook or downplay the importance of Holy Spirit, we will miss the Greatest Gift.  Wouldn’t that be a shame?  All believers need to do is capture the meaning of scripture and ask the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach us.  But that is the glaring issue!  When believers aren’t aware there is a Holy Spirit, they will lack the advantages that Jesus died for us to have.   Let’s look at another important scripture. 

In Acts 19, we read that when the Apostle Paul reached Ephesus, he asked the believers, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed.”  They answered: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”  After two-thousand years, we haven’t made much progress!  The lack of teaching about Holy Spirit is a huge issue in the church today.  With cultural relevance taking over some denominations, what we used to think of as Christian churches may not even base their teaching on the teachings of Christ and God’s Word.

Many Christian pastors are wonderful at communicating and teaching God’s word, but in my years of attending both denominational and non-denominational churches, the desire to completely understand and apply God’s truth about Holy Spirit is absent from a large percentage of them.  Thankfully, Robert Morris found out about Holy Spirit even though his pastor told him as he left for seminary, “Don’t let anyone talk to you about Holy Spirit.” After attending my share of denominational and non-denominational churches, I believe this thinking is pervasive in The Church in America.

Jesus prayed for all believers to be in unity, in John 17:20-21, and I believe Holy Spirit is the unifying force.  When I came to Christ, I had a childhood friend who also grew up Catholic as I did.  We were neighbors and attended the same church.  When she found Christ, she invited me to the Baptist church she was attending.  Later, when I found my personal relationship with Him, she seemed more than a friend, but a real sister, a true family member, and closer than my biological family members who didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.  That sense of family and unity is what Holy Spirit brings!  

Like-mindedness would please Jesus and answer His prayer in John 17. But Satan has done his best to divide us with various denominations and doctrines, incorporating fear and pride into the mix. Church doctrines or man’s doctrines put a spiritual lid on the ability to be led by God’s Spirit. I believe there is only one true way to follow Jesus, attain unity and like-mindedness, to be the family, the Bride that Jesus will return to receive.  We must accept and honor His Spirit as part of the package.